SAIPAN! A Writer's Haven!

Welcome to the new home of Saipan's writers. The mission of this
site is to provide information, inspiration and ideas for Saipan's many
writers, and to showcase Saipan's writers to the world!

Through this site, you'll be able to
find and contact authors, purchase their books, sign up for writer workshops
led by book coach Walt Goodridge and hosted at various locations
on Saipan!

Our Writer Group Success Stories!

Following are individuals who, through my coaching or workshops and have gone
on to complete and publish their books!

Chun Yu Wang, former garment
factory worker (with my help), published Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin,
Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan, used
in Women's Studies and Textile courses in at least 3 colleges in the US (Check it out at http://www.saipanfactorygirl.com and see the 162 reviews on Amazon)

Riza Ramos, a nurse at CHC and a workshop attendee,
published Drinking Seawater (a Soudelor account and memoir) shortly after attending workshop #2!
You can check it out at www.rizaramosbooks.com and on Amazon

Dr. John Joyner,
long-time resident and educator, with translations by Angie Hu,
published This Baby Can Speak (a child development guide) in English,
Spanish and Chinese after attending workshop #3! You can check it out at
www.thisbabycanspeak.com and on Amazon.

Zaldy Dandan, editor of the Marianas Variety,
inspired by the workshop, published We'll Kiss Like It's Air and
We're Running Out of It (a book of poetry), AND Die! Bert! Die! (a book of short stories).

George Gomez, workshop attendee, inspired by the ease of the process, started a publishing company and
published a Cajun recipe cookbook of
Chef Donn Gueniot's best recipes!
Find it online on Amazon!

Me! And, since the last workshop, I've published
There's Something About Saipan! A visitor's guide to fantastic facts,
tantalizing trivia, startling statistics, dramatic diaries and
hair-raising history from America's most colorful island territory! AND
The Amelia Earhart Saipan tour supplement.
View them at http://www.cnmitourism.com. View all Walt's books at
www.waltgoodridge.com/books

UPCOMING/LATEST WRITERS WORKSHOP

WHEN: WAS Saturday, January 27, 2018 from 12noon to 3pm (See photos below!)

ADMISSION: $10 in advance; $12 at the door ($5 for students with ID);
Please see Beth Demapan, Technical Services Librarian at the library to sign up.

DETAILS:
Please bring your laptop or preferred means of writing!
It would be helpful (though not mandatory) if you have either
Microsoft Word or the free Open Office text writer software installed
on your computer. (Download Open Office at www.openoffice.org)

Yes, Saipan is a writer's haven!
Have an idea for a new book? Want to re-issue your out-of-print book
and sell it on Amazon? Want to know how to report your author
income/claim deductions on your taxes? It's easier than you think
and may not cost a penny out of your pocket! Attend the upcoming
Saipan Writer's Workshop on Saturday, January 27, 2018 from 12Noon to
3pm at Joeten-Kiyu Public Library, VTC Room; $10adult/$5student) to learn more! Remember,
"repetition is the key to mastery." So, even if
you've attended these workshops in the past, please come again! (Pre-register
here

Catherine Perry Harris with authors Riza Ramos, John Joyner and Walt after interview to promote their books and upcoming workshop. The interview aired on Power 99FM on the "Your Humanities Half-hour" show produced by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council (April 1, 2017)

Workshop graduates, John Joyner and Angie Hui with Walt upon completion of This Baby Can Speak (Feb 17, 2017)

Workshop at Northern Marianas International School (October 8, 2016)

Attendees of workshop at Northern Marianas International School (October 8, 2016)

SAIPAN:
Most Writers per Square Mile? Yes, we can!

It must be something in the
water or the lagoon's many inspiring shades of "saipan blue!"
It may be the documented fact we have "the cleanest air in
the United States"--and the effect that may have on
creativity. Maybe it's our proximity to the Marianas Trench,
and we're pulling deep thoughts from the deepest part of the ocean!
Or maybe it's the tropical climate, and that (it's said) we're cited
by the Guinness Book of World Records as having "the least
fluctuating temperatures in the world." Whatever the reason,
we may have one more thing to add to the list of what makes Saipan so
special: I suggest to you we may also qualify as having "the
most writers per square mile!"

Work with me on this one. From
my unique vantage point as a book coach here on Saipan, it occurred
to me recently that for such a small island, there are an awful lot
of writers churning out books. Now, as you may know, Saipan is
approximately 12 miles long by 5.6 miles wide, with a total land area
of 44.55 square miles (let's say 45). What if, I thought, Saipan
actually has more writers per square
mile than any place else on the planet? That would be a
feather in our collective cap we could boast about and use to carve
out a new type of tourism!

To test my hypothesis, I set off
to compile a thorough list! I recruited the help of Marlon Regaton of
Bestseller Bookstore, Lisa Hacskaylo of Northern Marianas College,
librarian Rosalyn Ajoste, and librarians Ray DeLeon Guerrero and Beth
Demapan of the Joeten Kiyu Public Library, and to help create a list
of Saipan-based, Saipan-inspired authors who met the following
criteria:

1. Author need not be a current
resident, but must have been born on or living on Saipan during the
authorship (not necessarily publication) of at least one title.

2. Author may reside permanently
elsewhere as long as he/she returns to Saipan for inspiration.

3. Books may be independently
published and can be on any topic fiction or non-fiction.

A few days of exciting research
ensued, and I now present, in alphabetical order, the first iteration
of the "Ultimate Saipan Writers List" of individuals
who--inspired perhaps by Saipan's sunshine, water, air, history,
cultures and lifestyle--turned a passion for sports, cooking, poetry
or unique life experience into these timeless literary works!

Dr. David Khorram:(1)World
Peace, a Blind Wife, and Gecko Tails: Intriguing thoughts from an
island on making life happier and healthier, and laughing along the
way; (2) Don't
Go Blind From Diabetes: An easy to understand guide to keeping your
vision for people with diabetes; (3)
Medical Procedure
Technical Manual

P.F.
Kluge: (1)
The Master
Blaster; (2)
The Edge of Paradise: America in Micronesia (lived on Saipan while
writing), and
others.

Barbara
Sher "The Games Lady":
(1)
Social, Motor and
Sensory Games,(2)
Home Grown Baby,
(3) Extraordinary
Play with Ordinary Things,
(4)Self-esteem
Games,
(5) Early
Intervention Games
and many others! (For parents and children)

Cinta
Kaipat:Liewaila:
A Micronesian Story "The
Carolinians" Video Documentary

Mike
Tripp: The Underwater World of Saipan Video

Dan
Shorr*: Looking for America Video

Marlon
Regaton: Marlon of Bestseller is the idea man behind my own
Saipan Now: a photo adventure, and the soon-to-be-published
Saipan Carolinian Language Book series

CONCLUSION
& PROOF:

At first
blush, we've identified 63 published writers (over 90 with group
collaborations/special mentions) with books on sale at
Bestseller or online, or available at the public library! Now, let's
apply the GLAD Hypothesis & Formula (that would be Goodridge's
Land Author Density
Hypothesis & Formula in case you weren't paying attention):

GLAD
Formula: writers divided by square miles =
writers/sq.mile

63/45 = 1.4 writers/sq.mi
(OMG!)

Eureka!
It's true! It's official! At just first blush, we're at almost 1.5
writers per square mile! Someone please do the research and let me
know if any other US state, territory or commonwealth can boast the
same! Internationally,
forget what you'll read about Iceland (that one in ten
will publish a book)! Don't be swayed by Norway's reputation (of
having the best government support for authors). This
is a major accomplishment!
However, we can do better! We must
do better! If we're to credibly secure this new identity, we need to
base it on the square miles of the recognized "inhabited"
islands of Saipan/Tinian/Rota (45+39+33=117sq.mi), or even the
entire CNMI (~179-185sq.mi)! We can do it! This was just a
preliminary search and we know there are others out there!

So,
I need your help! No, the CNMI needs your help! Did we miss anyone
you know? Find any errors? Add yourself and books you know of at
www.saipanwriters.com where you can view the growing list (with
author bios and links). Email me at walt@saipanwriters.com, and
follow the growth at Facebook.com/Saipanwriters!

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR: "Once upon a time, there was a Jamaican
civil engineer living in New York who hated his job, followed his
passion, started a sideline business publishing his own books, found
the courage to quit his job, escaped the rat race, ran off to a
tropical island in the Pacific, and started a tourism business so he
could give tours of the island to pretty girls every day...and live a
nomadpreneur's dream life."....and now helps others live true to
themselves!Learn
more at www.waltgoodridge.com